Sorting out colanders versus strainers
There are some essential items every kitchen should have in the cupboards or drawers. Knives and a board or two, measuring cups and spoons, bowls in a variety of sizes, utensils for flipping, stirring or lifting, and good cookware. Then there are things that make your cooking life easier. Have you ever tried to drain cooked macaroni only to have most of it end up in the sink? Do you need a colander, a strainer or both? What’s the difference?
A strainer is made with mesh, usually in a bowl shape. The mesh might be very fine, for straining all the solids out of food such as tea leaves from steeped tea. Or it could be quite open and will work for draining pasta or washing vegetables. Double mesh is good for making jellies or straining out fine sediment. Strainers can have one long handle or two on either side. There are many sizes of strainers, so depending on your need, you may want a small one for tea and a bigger one for vegetables. A round strainer can double as a steamer in a sauce pot. Just make sure it fits inside with the lid on the pot. Doublehandled strainers often have small feet on the bottom to keep them slightly lifted off the surface. A mesh strainer can also be used to sieve dry ingredients such as flour or cocoa for baking.
A colander is like a deep bowl with lots of little holes in it. The holes are large enough to let liquid pass through quickly while keeping solids inside. A colander is used to strain the water from pasta or vegetables. If your colander is large enough, it works well to wash vegetables, especially dirty ones from a rain-soaked garden! I like to fit the colander into a bowl, put the freshly picked carrots or peas or whatever into the colander and fill it up with cold water. Let it soak for a few minutes and swish everything around. Most dirt falls off into the bowl underneath. Use that water on your houseplants. Colanders come in a variety of sizes from very small for berries to large for pastas. They can be metal, plastic, melamine or silicone. Most have handles on the sides to help hold them over a pot or bowl. Generally, colanders have feet, so they stand above the surface if you are draining into a sink.
Straining spoons or ladles are another variation of the colander. The holes are large, meant to quickly drain liquids from the solids, and are also available in a number of sizes. They work well for lifting poached eggs or fruit.
When you are choosing which to buy, keep in mind a colander is good for heavier foods and a strainer for lighter, as in pasta (heavy) or drippings from a roast (light). You really need both if you like to cook, and then it’s just a size and construction material consideration. They nest together nicely for storage.
DID YOU KNOW?
The tea strainer was invented in 1908. William Sullivan was a New York tea merchant. He put his tea samples into silk bags and strained the tea for potential customers. It was an instant hit.